MMDAs rake in over GH¢3 million in property rates - GRA official

An official of the Ghana Reve­nue Authority (GRA), Mr Er­nest Adade, has announced that the introduction of the Myassem­bly.gov.gh has led to the discovery of a total of 10,124,311 properties in Ghana.

Additionally, a total of 15,293,161 individuals and corpo­rate entities associated with such properties have also been identi­fied.

Myassembly.gov.gh is a unified common property rate online platform introduced by the GRA to mobilise revenue from property rates in a cashless system.

The platform, among others, have identified all ratable prop­erties in Ghana and have billed them.

Speaking to the Ghanaian Times in Accra last Friday after an engagement with Presiding Mem­bers on the mode of collection, Mr Adade, Head of Communication of Myassembly.gov.gh, said there was a massive boost in the collec­tion of property rates since the platform was introduced.

“Some Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) have received huge funds allocation through the Myassembly.gov.gh platform,” he said.

According to him, the GH¢1 million property rate revenue reported in a section of the media was understated.

He disclosed that MMDAs have so far received over GH¢3 million since the implementation and pay­ments phase of the property rates on the unified platform.

“This is not only because the platform has provided the enabling environment and logistics for the collection process, but also through the support of MMDCEs who are determined to succeed,” he said.

He said the property rate was an integral part of the assemblies’ Internally Generated Fund (IGF), adding, “payments would help the assemblies finance various projects, infrastructure development and es­sential services within the assembly area.”

Mr Adade said in order to rake in more revenue, over 7,000 univer­sity graduates have been deployed to the MMDAs to educate property owners and hook them onto the new platform and assist them to make payments.

The Head of Operations for the Myassembly.gov.gh, Mr Joshua Toxla, urged the assemblies to en­sure transparency and accountabili­ty in the use of the property rates.